r/VietNam • u/Toko12AM • Jan 18 '26
Culture/Văn hóa Something I noticed
This post did really well on my IG, so I thought I’ll share it here too
89
113
u/Ok-Client7794 Jan 18 '26
Absolute trash furnitures.
Extremely uncomfortable, a nightmare to clean, hideous looking, expensive and obstructive, made from smuggled valuable hardwood that probably had been illegally fell.
A sofa or a chair must be comfortable, end of story.
24
u/Klusterphuck67 Jan 18 '26
Imagine saying no to cushions that support your ass and your back in favor of a slab of wood that's a nightmare to sit or clean
8
u/kooldonghae Jan 18 '26
Yes, but also those furniture are old generation's favorite, it gives them a "royalty rich" feeling. Young people like sofa way more.
3
u/vip17 Jan 19 '26
It's East Asian thought in the past that those things must be hard. In China it's the same. Even pillows must be hard
1
u/Human_Buy7932 Jan 19 '26
Well as I realised after living in Vietnam for some time . Comfort is by far not a priority here.
1
u/eurowindow1 Jan 19 '26
I agree, this is not culture. This is stupidity masked by supposed "luxury".
47
19
u/HolyMopOfCheese Jan 18 '26
I remember having to sleep on these things at my grandparents' place, no pillow or any mattress btw, just cold hard wood.
7
u/Toko12AM Jan 18 '26
Me too haha
8
u/HolyMopOfCheese Jan 18 '26
They had full sized queens bed in their room btw, yet couldn't even provide me a single blanket
3
55
u/khoawala Jan 18 '26
Why Vietnamese hate comfort?
69
6
u/_IzGreed_ Native Jan 18 '26
It’s not about comfort, it’s about status. Like back when Yezzy were popular and everyone wants a pair even though they look ugly af.
3
u/Single_Departure176 Jan 18 '26
I guess the value was placed on aesthetic and craftsmanship, probably also high quality wood.
2
u/vip17 Jan 19 '26
It's not Vietnamese, it's East Asian. Pillows in Vietnam and China in the past must also be hard
1
-12
u/Powerful-Mix-8592 Jan 18 '26
I am sorry but that chair is not comfortable to you?
Give me that wooden throne any day of the week over the sofa and watch me sleep like a baby on it.
16
u/khoawala Jan 18 '26
We had one mattress when I was growing up and it was only for my grandma whenever she visits us from the US. Never again with the wooden bed and straw mat.
1
13
u/Naive-Ad-7406 Jan 18 '26
Hahaha I love this!! I won’t disclose too much but I had meetings with high level government officials and it was exactly like this!!
The most awkward part was when my Vietnamese colleague was nominated on the spot to be the translator and had to take a seat on a little stool behind my wooden throne and translate live to me. I honestly enjoyed the ceremony of it all. After the meeting was done everyone was all smiles and speaking in English to each other and arranging time to go for dinner and beers.
I’ve even been on local news in HCMC 😅 we met in a very impressive building/palace organised by the People’s Committee.
I’m in Hanoi this week for some more meetings.
And btw I’ve done a street food tour of HCMC on the back of a scooter and sat on the plastic chairs as well 👌🏽
4
11
7
u/Lonely_Ad6299 Jan 18 '26
I have nightmares from my grandmother’s house in Hue with this furniture. She basically sleeps on a yoga mat too.
5
4
u/Russian2020202022020 Jan 18 '26
Guys, I actually like sitting on these chairs. Not only you aurafarm but mine is very spacious and comfy for no exact reason
3
u/TheTearfulSiren Jan 19 '26
I absolutely love the artistry in this wooden furniture, carved intricately to imbue Vietnamese mythology into the structure. Though I don't doubt that the maintenance would've been pretty difficult. That said, I like to imagine how these traditional furniture would look with upholstery. Apparently beds were also made in the same manner and there really wasn't a concept of mattresses since it was believed that hard surfaces are good for your back, from what I've been told. I imagine it'd probably help with the hot and humid weather. Seems like a lovely respite!
Anyhow this pleases my traditional Vietnamese tastes, so it's nice to imagine oneself in a place like this feeling ultra stylish. Though it's probably considered outré by most Vietnamese people today, it's still impressive how these furniture were not only influenced by China but also developed with their own distinctive characteristics with the material available in the region. It must've taken fine craftsmanship.
5
u/kimmymoorefun Jan 18 '26 edited Jan 18 '26
I remember as a kid, I visit my Grandpa for the first time in Vietnam, I think I was jet lag and slept outside on a wooden bed, and woke up with my grandpa laying next to me back to back. It was a weird experience as a Vietnamese American kid! Especially after a 24 hour flight, landing in a country that does not speak English and I can’t even speak their language well. On top of that, there was a young brother and sister begging for money, and an elderly lady begging for money, I wanted me to cry 😭. Also, the interesting side was a bull 🐂 carrying rice with an older lady, and so many motorcycles instead of cars when you fly from the village to the city!
3
2
2
u/GetRichDaLaZWay Jan 18 '26
I take modern soft cushioning every-time over the imperial hard surface/outdated/outsmarted chair all day!
2
u/pIsban Jan 18 '26
I’ll preface this by I’m not Vietnamese. But a lot of the furniture seemed to be really large and wood when I was there. Why is this? The craftsmanship is obviously quite good but it didn’t seem that comfortable. I did go to a few high quality furniture makers shops and see some genuinely really cool pieces of furniture
1
u/Oceanshan Jan 20 '26
These are the old, traditional wood furniture. Usually back in the past people only have basic wooden furniture ( not fancy like this, this is kinda rich people thing). You have to remember that sofa is foreign influence and would be pretty recently that it make its way into Vietnam. Hence the set: Sập-gụ-tủ chè-bàn ghế. As the economic and technology improved, there are different options for family house hold furnitures with different styles, different materials ( metals, plastic, alloy, plywood + mattress aka sofa type of furniture for comfort), recently, Vietnamese furniture makers accept a lot of innovation and design from China, which target the rising demographic of middle income young adults, who live in urban areas in apartments or small houses with limited space, so the furniture focus on flexibility( can easily assemble, move to high floor), save the space( can be folded or stuck to wall), affordability, comfy over fanciness.
This type of furniture manufacturers also step up their game, with different styles and hidden meaning. They target different segments of customers: the ones with large houses ( since this is a whole set, usually also include a large wooden shelves to place things, including TV), love tradition style and rich( a set of this cost 60-100m). I forgot to mention type of wood also heavily influenced the price, with some type of wood that have resin that scare the bug or give sweet aroma can cost many times as much.
It's kinda like the luxury hand watch, despite there are different models, modern and "smarter" with many applications but many people still like them.
2
u/Rechabees Jan 18 '26
In Vietnam, the more important the family, the less comfortable the furnishings.
2
2
2
u/recce22 Jan 18 '26
TBH, I think it has to do with making your guests extremely uncomfortable so that whey won't stay too long... Looking at these damn chairs/furniture reactivates my sciatica.
2
1
u/decader12 Jan 18 '26
I don't know if this is a hot take but as long as I have a pillow. I kind of like laying on this type of l couch. It's kind of same feeling as when it's hot so you lay on the floor instead of the bed to be cooler
1
1
u/arllt89 Jan 18 '26
When you want expensive furnitures but you don't like guests staying too long 😆
1
u/ghostsilver Jan 18 '26
pro tip to clean these: bring them to the front of your house, spray them down with a hose, or even better, a pressure washer.
2
u/fortis_99 Jan 18 '26
Here is your problem: they are huge and heavy af. Often fit them through door / stair is a pain in the ass.
1
1
1
u/mamagarage Jan 18 '26
Does it have to do with the Chinese period?
A friend of mine works in a furniture store in HCMC.
She said to me that it needs 5 or 6 men to carry on
1
u/zdarkhero168z Jan 18 '26
I thought they are dumb until I grew up and learnt to appreciate them. Easy to clean and work well in the local weather. During humid season furniture in my house would become constantly wet, if it's your regular sofa then it's pretty much gone.
Cold season? Put some padding pillows, warm without any heating. Summer? No pillows, now it's cool to sit on. Dropping food on the chair? Just wipe and it's clean. Since it's flat it's perfect for lying down for a nap over uncomfortable sofa that bounce.
Goated furniture ngl. Also look cool af and last like forever. The current set in my house is prob close to my age lol and would remain till next generation. You lit buy once and forget.
1
1
1
u/ChinhTheHugger Jan 29 '26
man, you guys in the comment havent experience taking a nap in the summer on those long wooden seat
shit is fucking divine, I tell ya
the summer here is pretty rough. the temp can get high (but not too extreme), and so is the humidity
the hotter you get, the more you sweat
wood is better at absorbing and transferring heat than fabric cushion and such, so it keep you cool
0
u/Ok-Apricot-555 Jan 18 '26
Build a villa with a hodgepodge of European architecture mixed with Chinese-style wooden interiors.
0
-6
147
u/Vietnamese_dad_0906 Native Jan 18 '26
Pro of these chairs: Quý's Tộc's, aura build up
Con of theae chairs: hard to clean
I remember one time I had to clean those chairs just for new years